1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a glove, and more particularly to a glove comprising an elastomeric blend of chloroprene rubber and a carboxylated synthetic butadiene rubber. A preferred glove of the invention is a medical glove comprising an elastomeric blend of chloroprene rubber and one of carboxylated nitrile butadiene rubber or carboxylated styrene butadiene rubber.
2. Description of the Related Art
Individuals working in hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care facilities regularly wear medical gloves to protect themselves from possible infection or to otherwise prevent their hands from contacting harmful substances. Fear of infection, particularly driven by the advent of the human immunodeficiency virus ("HIV") in the 1980s, has especially contributed to the increased use of medical gloves by health care professionals.
Conventional medical gloves are typically made from natural rubber latex, a latex derived from the sap of the Hevea Brasiliensis tree. Medical gloves made from natural rubber possess a number of favorable qualities. For instance, natural rubber gloves have a high intrinsic elasticity and therefore provide the wearer with considerable sensitivity to the touch for gripping or handling items. Natural rubber film also offers substantial protection to the wearer as an effective barrier from pathogens, virus, and bacteria. Finally, natural rubber is inexpensive and is available in large quantities.
Some users of natural rubber medical gloves experience allergenic reactions, and even anaphylactic shock, upon contact with the gloves. These individuals typically wear the gloves frequently throughout their careers and are therefore in contact with the gloves for substantial combined periods of time. The apparent cause of the reactions and shock is the presence of proteins inherent in natural rubber. Some members of the health care industry have therefore sought synthetic alternatives to natural rubber gloves to alleviate the risk of reactions and shock to the wearer.
The search for a suitable and effective substitute for natural rubber in medical gloves has been difficult. Conventional materials such as vinyl, nitrile, and styrene butadiene rubber have been used as substitutes for natural rubber, yet these materials typically suffer from a number of disadvantages. Gloves made from any of those materials usually lack the distinctive feel and stretch of natural rubber gloves, thereby often failing to provide the sensitivity to touch required by the wearer. Furthermore, vinyl rubber is solvent-based and therefore tends to be more difficult to produce and more hazardous to handle and use than natural rubber. Lastly, vinyl and nitrile are typically both tough, and they may tear easily and stretch poorly. There is, therefore, a need in the health care industry for an elastomeric glove that not only reduces the risk of allergenic reaction and shock to the wearer, but also better approximates the feel and stretch of natural rubber gloves than do other elastomeric gloves.